Delighted

[higgins]

i think it was intentional but the ref was only going to give a free kick until Ronaldo told him what Ronney had done.

You think Ronaldo has that much power that he asked the ref to give a card and thats what happened??

Give the ref a bit of credit!

It was under his nose and it was a stamp, maybe the push brought it up from a very deserved yellow to a harsh red but I think it was red in the refs mind regardless of what Ronaldo did.

Ref was waiting until people cleared away before producing the card and not listening to Ronaldo asking for the card.

[Karlos]

At first I thought it was accidental, but having seen the replays from various angles, it was without a doubt an intentional stamp.

Without doubt to you but not to some others including me. Only Wayne Rooney knows without doubt if he meant to do the player. I still don't believe he did having watched it numerous times. :)



I also find it extremely naive of people to think a person with the temprament and petulence of Rooney, didn't do it intentionally.

Trying to look at an incident objectively, on it's own merits and without clouding judgement with the accussed's past history doesn't equal being naiive in my world. But of course that's just my opinion.

[dublinred]

Well done agent Sven , 10 pints behind the bar in O'Donoghues as promised.

[FarBeag]

I think it’s fairly clear that he did mean it. It’s like someone robbing a bank, being caught on CCTV actually doing it and then people trying to come up with some sort of weird explanation as to how the thief did not know he did it. Has Rooney actually denied it himself? I know most of his colleagues even Peter Crouch who was up the other end of the field denied he did it.

Rooney is a thug and will always be in trouble. Ok Ronaldo wound him up, so what ,it happens all the time. Unfortunately for Ronaldo like him or loath him is being made scrape goat for England going out of the world cup He is now in the same boat as Maradonna and all those refs that cheated England.I feel more sorry for this kid than i will ever feel for Rooney as the real cheat is still a golden boy in England.

[Roadend]

Without doubt to you but not to some others including me. Only Wayne Rooney knows without doubt if he meant to do the player. I still don't believe he did having watched it numerous times. :)



Trying to look at an incident objectively, on it's own merits and without clouding judgement with the accussed's past history doesn't equal being naiive in my world. But of course that's just my opinion.

I also like the way Rooney has come out and said he didn't stamp on the Carvalho or deserve to be sent off, oh wait.........

[Noelys Guitar]

I haf collected said 10 pints. And belief me our other agent codename "ballsup" will proof even more better than I! In the frist haf not so good. In the second haf etc etc etc

[The Stars]

You think Ronaldo has that much power that he asked the ref to give a card and thats what happened??

Give the ref a bit of credit!

It was under his nose and it was a stamp, maybe the push brought it up from a very deserved yellow to a harsh red but I think it was red in the refs mind regardless of what Ronaldo did.

Ref was waiting until people cleared away before producing the card and not listening to Ronaldo asking for the card.
well if you look at it again you will see that the ref was calm about it all until ronaldo showed him what Rooney had done.
He then looks at Rooney,calls him over and shows the card....

[Jon'o]

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/6479/beckham8pf4cx.jpg

[strangeirish]

You think Ronaldo has that much power that he asked the ref to give a card and thats what happened??
Give the ref a bit of credit!
It was under his nose and it was a stamp, maybe the push brought it up from a very deserved yellow to a harsh red but I think it was red in the refs mind regardless of what Ronaldo did.
Ref was waiting until people cleared away before producing the card and not listening to Ronaldo asking for the card.
Agreed.
I think the ref was close (http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/photo?slug=getty-fbl-wc2006-match59-eng-por_12_45_37_pm&prov=getty) enough to warrant a red card.

[Stuttgart88]

I think Rooney didn't set out to stamp on Carvalho but once he found his 'nads conveniently below his boots he couldn't resist the stamp. It was a completely instantaneous decision, but a violent one. He really made sure he followed through with intent. Ref was right beside it. He gestured with his leg what he saw and I honestly think he was right.

The press aren't making Rooney the scapegoat cos they know they need him and also because they bigged him up so much in advance as the hero.

To paraphrase the Life of Brian: he's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!

England's players are capable enough but style of play isn't. Ball retention is alien to English football. All the good sides at this World Cup (& every major tournament) can pass & keep the ball for fun. It's OK for us to laugh now, but our players are all products of the English system so it'll take some foresight or good management to overcome this constraint. I actually think that in WC02 we played a far more savvy brand of football than England did.

Sven got 25million for making minor & pretty straightforward improvements to the Keegan model. Nice work.

England have merits that other teams don't, but their reliance on long, direct balls & set pieces was found wanting.

Guts & determination alone aren't sufficient. All England ever bring to tournaments is a monstrous publicity machine & an overinflated opinion of themselves & I'm not saying this as a bitter Paddy. Winning Euro 2008 is a possibility but WC06 was the big chance. Germany, Spain, Holland & others will all be stronger in 2008 than they are now I think. All are / were a bit young & inexperienced in this WC, but England really had the advantage in terms of experience this time around.


Portugal are wnakers though, no question. Maniche should get a retrospective yellow for his reaction to one minor contact, from Ferdinand I think. I ike their right full though, Manuel?

Allez les Bleus. Zidane: now that's World Class, not Frank Lampard.


I think that by & large the England fans have been cleaning up their act & deserve credit, no question. There's also a lot more corporate junkets accounting for the numbers who travel which waters down the thuggish element But awarding them best fans in the tournament is disgracefulful. Patrick Barclay of the Sunday Telegraph, a dyed in the wool anglophile in the football sense but not to the extent that he can turn a blind eye to the aggressive arms held aloft during GSTQ, and the addition of "No Surrender" to their national anthem, is always spot on in his assessment. Chants like "English 'till I die", "10 German Bombers...", "My Grandad killed yours" etc. are reprehensible.

I accept fully that it is now a significant minority who are a security risk but awarding this lot best in world is an insult to the likes of Sweden & Australia and others who probably had zero arrests between them & whose songs are benign and fun.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,19587655%255E663,00.html

[Schumi]

Chants like "English 'till I die"... are reprehensible.
Why?.

[OwlsFan]

Why?.

Yep, good commentary but I too am not sure what is wrong with that chant. It's lifted from the clubs of course "Wednesday till I die...etc" and it doesn't really travel that well to the international arena - we hardly think they're all going to take out German passports and become Germans.

The English fans seem to have by and large behaved - since we try to be the opposite of them, does this mean we'll start misbehaving :D ?

[Stuttgart88]

The slogan is favoured by the BNP, along with stuff you see on flags such as "Born in England, Live in England, will die in England". It's very much an ultra right wing slogan. Honestly.

I was watching Euro 2004 on TV with my English friends. They heard the crowd singing the tune & joined in thinking they were singing " I am H-A-P-P-Y..". I pointed out what the words actually were & they stopped immediately, realising what the meaning was.

All a bit cryptic I know, but honestly I'm not just being scurrilous. Maybe others can back me up (or put me straight) on this if they too are aware of the sensitivity.

[Rory H]

Yep, good commentary but I too am not sure what is wrong with that chant. It's lifted from the clubs of course "Wednesday till I die...etc" and it doesn't really travel that well to the international arena - we hardly think they're all going to take out German passports and become Germans.

The English fans seem to have by and large behaved - since we try to be the opposite of them, does this mean we'll start misbehaving :D ?


that england till i die thing is really annoying

when its a club it sounds good...you make the promise you will never stop supporting your club...but with your country...what are you going to do if you dont win the world cup?emigrate to india and support them:confused:

[Marked Man]

i think it was intentional but the ref was only going to give a free kick until Ronaldo told him what Ronney had done.

Not according to the referee:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=373212&cc=5901